The Exile
by Cadmium Poisoning
Summary: Four years after a violent takeover, Konoha is still picking up the pieces under its new rule. In the shadows of the Konoha forest, however, a rebellion is brewing. Who will win, the newly-appointed child Hokage or the organization plotting her demise? AU, no pairings (yet)
1. Hinata, in the Evening

Hello!

It has been a long time since I've written anything, and this is the first Naruto story I'm publishing here. Be gentle with reviews? Also, as a small warning... I first started this story over two years ago. I have a few more chapters ready-ish, but it will probably take me long time to update.

The point of view changes between chapters from one character to another.

Disclaimer: I do not own this series.

HINATA, IN THE EVENING

Hinata checked her surroundings for guards. Her byakugan eyes turning, she scanned every direction within the radius of two hundred meters. At her eleven o'clock, behind a building, she saw a man wearing the guard outfit. He was also scanning. His gaze turned in her direction and Hinata did not wait for confirmation.

She deactivated her byakugan and fled to the sewers.

The guard managed to track her for about fifteen abrupt changes in direction, but then lost her and returned to surface. _Thank goodness the byakugan doesn't see very well in pitch-black darkness_, Hinata thought to herself. That was why she had deactivated hers before descending to the sewers. It wouldn't have helped her in the maze, and the guard might have been able to sense her chakra flare and follow it.

The exiled Hyuuga stretched out her arms and touched the wall. She, like all of the exiles, had almost the entire sewer system memorized. The wall she was currently touching was just under the marketplace, and if she followed it for a while and then turned right, she would arrive at a safe location to resurface. Or that was her hope. She hadn't known real safety for several years now.

Upon arriving at the manhole she wanted to go through, Hinata activated her bloodline again. Around herself, she could see nothing. Above the ground, she saw houses with closed curtains, streetlamps lighting up to keep roads lit a little longer before the curfews, and most importantly, she saw no guards.

Hinata exited the sewers in a flash and hid herself behind a couple of trash cans to do a more thorough search of the area. Still finding no guards, she tugged the scarf she had around her face further up and started running. From one shelter to another. From behind one object to behind another. Constantly checking her surroundings again and again.

Eventually the girl arrived at her destination. Checking her surroundings once more, and finding no one near her, she pulled open a door leading to the building she had had her back against, entered fast, and shut the door as quietly as she could.

"Hello, Hinako-chan", a voice greeted her from the back of the small pharmacy. Hinako was Hinata's (quite obvious) alias, because who knew who might be listening in on them. Not that it really mattered what name was used - if the shopkeeper was seen with Hinata, she would be arrested immediately anyway, if not executed on the spot. Using the alias was almost a joke between them.

"Hey, Sakura-san." The pink-haired girl emerged from the storage room, carrying around a large box labelled "BANDAGES".

"The usual? Do you need anything added?" Sakura asked, pulling a stuffed plastic bag out of the box. Hinata shook her head.

"No major injuries this time. Also, a guard saw me two hours ago, so I should leave as soon as I can."

"Right. Here you go." The former medic-nin said and handed the bag over. Hinata thanked her and put the bag under her arm. "Give everyone my best", Sakura commented as Hinata turned to leave.

"I will. They send their thanks for the last time, and this one also." Then Hinata vanished to the night.

-exile-

Hinata was in the sewers again, travelling towards the edge of the city. This was always the most dangerous part of the trip. The guards - and even worse, the anbu - knew the exiles frequently moved across the borders, and they had seen her today. They would be expecting her. She would have to be even stealthier than usually; the walls of Konoha were very closely guards, and rigged with traps.

At times like this, Hinata truly missed those days when the Gates could be opened without authorization from the Hokage. Slipping past the guards would have been easier if the gates were sometimes left open, like in the old days...

...But then again, in the old days, anbu patrols went much further than the village gates, and the rebel community would have to be a lot further away from Konoha than it was now. Perhaps this was the best; after all, the reason the gates were guarded so thoroughly was because it was known that parts of the Konoha forest belonged to the exiles.

Reaching the wall, Hinata activated her byakugan again. There was a guard tower right above her, and she could see that neither of the two guards in it had the byakugan. Hinata turned off her bloodline and used a genjutsu to blend in with that colour of the wall. Then she concentrated chakra to her feet and ran up the wall in an instant, so that she was directly below the floor of the tower. She then carefully crawled past the tower, her back just below the window of it, obscured from sight unless one of the guards leant through the window. Luckily, they didn't.

Once past the wall, the Hyuuga let herself drop freely towards the ground before halting her fall by grabbing the wall with chakra just before impact. Now she was directly below the tower, on the other side. Turning off her genjutsu, she walked along the wall to the north, and then dashed off to the forest. The guards didn't notice her.

-exile-

The rebel hideout was a large underground compound, first found by Itachi Uchiha when the Third Hokage had just been overthrown. Who had created its halls and rooms was unknown, though most exiles believed that Itachi had definitely known about it beforehand; otherwise he couldn't have found it so fast after the coup. The Uchiha himself refused to comment, which of course only made it more interesting. The rumours had it that the compound had once been used by an underground society from Konoha who wished to overthrow the Hokage.

...Well, no matter what the past might have been, now the compound was definitely being used by an underground society intent on overthrowing the current Hokage. Ironic as that was.

As Hinata reached one of the secret entrances, she dialed a long series of passwords and key numbers to get through the doors. Once inside, she put down her bag, held up her arms and let the rebel guards frisk search her for weapons and explosives. Finding none, the guards stepped aside and let her report to the council member on duty.

Hinata went to the desk and found it occupied by a man hiding most of his face under a mask and a forehead protector. She smiled as the man lifted his only visible eye to her.

"Ah, Hinata-chan! Welcome back." Hinata bowed.

"Hello, Kakashi-san." Kakashi gave her an eye-crinkling smile and suddenly, after a long day of anxiety and stress, Hinata felt like home.

"How went the mission? Did you get the supplies?" Kakashi asked. Hinata held out the bag in response.

"I was seen by a guard once, but otherwise everything went well. Also, Sakura sends her regards." Kakashi went through the bag and then smiled again.

"I hope you remembered to give her our thanks."

"I did." Kakashi nodded.

"I'll send these to the healers. Good work, Hinata." Hinata knew she had been dismissed, so she smiled, bowed again and turned to go to her quarters. She would have loved to stay and chat with the man, as they were friends, but right now Kakashi-san was her superior on duty and it would have been improper of her to stay.

-exile-

In the cramped space of the exile hideout, Hinata was considered one of the lucky ones as she only had to share her room with two others: Ino Yamanaka and Tenten.

Ino Yamanaka was a bouncy, energetic girl whose father had nearly been killed in the coup, and remained in the medical ward of the hideout, paralyzed from waist down. Hinata had known Ino - only by name, they hadn't been close - since they'd been little ninja academy students.

When the Third Hokage and his council was assassinated, Ino's father, Inoichi, had been the only one to make it out of the room alive, although just barely (another council member had survived by being absent).

Ino had been there that day with Inoichi. Hinata sometimes wondered if Inoichi's need to protect his daughter had been what got him out of there alive - after all, Ino would also have been executed if he hadn't rescued her. After they had escaped the tower, Inoichi was hit by a nearly lethal attack, and Ino had to drag him to safety. She had managed to flee the disaster zone the village had turned into, dragging her father to the forest. Itachi Uchiha had found them there and offered them shelter.

Hinata's other roommate, Tenten, had suffered very little in the actual coup. She had stayed in the village, somewhat clueless of what was going on, until the new Hokage had announced that all young genin from civilian families would lose their ninja status. This was what had happened to Sakura; she had been forced to forfeit her career as a kunoichi, and was now a pharmacist.

Tenten, being a genin from a family of blacksmiths, would also have had to turn her back on her chosen career for good. This had been too much for her; she had dreamed her whole life of rising to fame as a powerful kunoichi. She had escaped the village and come to the exiles, asking to join them. Back then, the rebel community was still a mess with no leaders to guide them and no guards to enforce their rules, so joining had been much easier. Now, years later, she would have had to go through a long trial period to be allowed in.

The reason Hinata, Tenten and Ino were allowed to live in their room with just the three of them (the room had capacity for four) was that they were among the most hard-working members of the whole rebel movement.

Ino was a master spy; with her family techniques, she could possess villagers and ninjas, and using their bodies, she gathered information by walking around, snooping through documents and talking to people.

Tenten, on the other hand, had her family's blacksmithing skills: she knew how to make nearly any weapon in the books and how to use them as well. She made weapons, trained others to use them and, most importantly for her, took part in regular missions - that had been, after all, what she had wanted from life when she joined the exiles.

And Hinata... Well, Hinata was the only Hyuuga the exiles had. With the whole village guarded by so many watchful byakugans, sending regular ninja in was dangerous, and only the most skilled exiles were sent there on missions. They had lost more than one ninja after they had been caught by the guards who could locate them even through solid objects. This made Hinata a natural choice for small in-Konoha missions, since she had the same ability as the guards. In fact, hers was greater; coming from the main Hyuuga line, she could see a greater distance than most of the branch family members working as guards.

-exile-

On her way to her room, Hinata came across Rock Lee, a ridiculously energetic young ninja who had once been teamed up with Tenten and one of Hinata's family members. Before the coup, of course.

"Hinata-chan! Did the mission go well?" Lee asked very excitedly, mock-saluting Hinata.

"Lee-kun." Hinata bowed to him a little in greeting and smiled. "It went well. I was seen by a guard once, but otherwise everything went smoothly."

"How was the lovely Sakura-san doing?" Lee had always had a kind of an obvious secret crush on Sakura.

"She seems to be well. She sent her regards to everyone." Lee smiled happily and blushed a bit.

"I am happy to hear that! I'm still jealous of you, though! I would like to go see her myself but I can't seem to get the clearance to start working on in-Konoha missions. I failed the test for the third time yesterday." His face fell dramatically at the last two sentences.

Hinata would never say it out loud, but she approved whole-heartedly of the decision to keep Lee out of Konoha. The youth didn't seem to understand the meaning of subtlety, or even speaking quietly.

"I'm sure you will pass it soon. You just need to concentrate very hard next time." Hinata hoped she didn't come off as patronising. Of course, such worry was wasted on Lee.

"YOU'RE RIGHT, MY FRIEND! NEXT TIME, I SHALL DEFINITELY PASS! NOW, AS A PUNISHMENT, I WILL GO TO THE TRAINING GROUNDS TO RUN THREE HUNDRED LAPS AROUND THE FIELD! BYE, HINATA-CHAN!" Lee roared and dashed off towards the exit.

"Bye, Lee-kun..." Hinata tried to say, but he was already gone. Well, with Lee, this kind of thing was routine. The girl turned around to keep moving, but was stopped in her tracks by an intimidating figure.

Itachi Uchiha. The founder and unofficial leader of the exile community.

"U-U-Uchiha-san! Good evening." Hinata stammered and bowed so low that her hair was hanging past her knees.

"Hinata-san. Good evening to you as well." Itachi nodded in her direction. The Hyuuga straightened her posture, anxious, but Itachi was already walking away. Hinata breathed a sigh of relief. She had always been terribly intimidated by Itachi, and felt that he didn't approve of her.

Well, it wasn't like he didn't have a reason to disapprove of her... Hinata had once been the heiress to the Hyuuga family, and she had still somehow managed to stay completely clueless to the fact that her own father was involved in a plot to assassinate the Third Hokage and take over Konoha.

With a sigh, Hinata marched on towards her room, her mood dampened.

I would love some constructive critisism. Thank you for reading!


	2. Kakashi, the Night Shift

Hello again!

Thanks to everyone who favorited, reviewed or followed this. Here's the next chapter, this time from Kakashi's perspective.

Warning: Sasuke has a swearing habit.

KAKASHI, THE NIGHT SHIFT

Kakashi read through the report that Sakura had sent with the supplies.

_"Hello diary,_

_Business has been slow this week so I have plenty of time to write. A new set of curfews came again by the mail. It's kind of a nuisance really, I can barely keep up with them! And seriously, they are already starting to affect my business hours. I usually keep the shop open until seven, so I can go out to buy groceries before the lights go out, but now they've given me one seven P.M. curfew! Well, I guess I'll have to do my shopping on another day or close my shop early that time._

_I haven't heard anything from my friends this week. I guess they haven't got plans or just didn't invite me. _

_One of my clients told me a joke yesterday. I'd already heard that one, but I laughed anyway. I mean, I need to be polite to them, right?_

_Well, I guess that's all for today, so nighty-night!"_

Kakashi sighed. It was a bold move from Sakura to mention the curfews in a report, especially the exact time. The villagers were not supposed to write them down, but memorize them and live by them.

Curfews were rules imposed by the new Hokage and her advisors. At the hour of the curfew, the lights in the village went out, and anyone who was found outside would be taken for questioning. This was meant to help the guards find exiles in the village, because they should not know of the rules and would remain outside, where they could be identified.

The seven P.M. curfew meant that they would have to send Hinata-chan on her usual retrieval mission early next week, which of course meant there was a greater risk she'd be spotted in the light of the day. Kakashi did not like these news at all. Of course they could go a little longer without getting more supplies... But then again, if someone got seriously injured that time...

'Friends' in Sakura's message meant the village rule. Sakura hadn't heard of any new plans from them, but wasn't sure if that meant they hadn't any or that she just hadn't found out. 'Clients' were allies in the village, and 'jokes' were information. This bit of information the ally had given Sakura seemed to be old news, though, because the pharmacist had already 'heard the joke'.

_I miss Sakura... compared to the knucklehead duo, she made such an attentive student. Such diligent work on these reports, too._ Kakashi sighed again, stood up, and pressed a speaker button on the wall.

"Hello?" came an answer from the other end, along with a plenty of static noise.

"Kurenai. Hinata has reported in and brought the supplies. I need to take them to the medics, and take Sakura's report to be copied before council. Could you cover for me in the lobby?" A sigh sounded from the other end.

"You know, you could use the errand people to run your errands. Or me."

"I could use a walk. And Sakura's report is important..."

"You just want me to sit in for you because you can't read porn while on duty."

"...Well, that could certainly be the case, but it might still be one of those other reasons I said. What did I say they were again?"

"You're a pain in the ass. But fine, I'll cover for you."

"Thanks, Kurenai!"

-exile-

Kurenai came to the booth, complained about Kakashi's habits for a while, and then let him go. The masked jonin made a point of pulling his book from his pocket and starting to read while still within her sight, just to rattle her a bit.

It seemed to be helping Kurenai to have someone to mother. Before the coup, she had been making plans to marry and start a family with one of Kakashi's friends. The man - Asuma Sarutobi - had been killed in the coup and his death had hit Kurenai very hard. She'd hardly spoken for weeks, and many had been concerned that she might try to end her life to follow Asuma.

Kakashi and Kurenai's genin team had worked hard to involve her in everything they did and keep her close, both to observe her and support her. Eventually their efforts paid off, as the young jonin slowly became more and more lively. Of course Kurenai would never _really_ be okay - no one from the exile group would.

"Kakashi-sensei", someone said in a monotone voice.

"Sasuke." Kakashi greeted the Uchiha, lifting his eye from his book in a lazy manner. The teen in front of him was dressed in a black-and-white outfit that looked a few sizes too small, and giving Kakashi his standard 'I am bored and angry' -look.

"Say, when will you start wearing the uniform?" Kakashi asked, "You've outgrown that shirt years ago. Or is the skintight clothes thing a part of your plan to restore your clan- Y'know, to get the fangirls' hormones running?"

Sasuke's expression became even angrier with just a hint of concealed embarrassment. "You promised to teach me and Naruto-"

"Naruto and I", Kakashi corrected, trying to sidetrack the teen.

"- Whatever, a new jutsu this week. When will you?" Sasuke was not about to be distracted from this, apparently.

"...Tuesday?"

"Today is Wednesday already."

"Oh. Well, I guess then it will have to be next week-"

"_You said_ this week. You _will do it _this week." Sasuke's glare wasn't half as intimidating as the boy clearly thought it was. It actually made him look a little constipated.

"Will I, now? I'm not sure I like your tone, young man..."

"Cut the bullshit! I need training if I'm ever going to be strong enough to avenge my clan!"

_That's why I don't want to train you,_ Kakashi thought. Sasuke was reckless and unbelievably stubborn. Kakashi was worried he might, with a little training, get the idea into his head that he was already strong enough to attack the village and get himself killed. He had actually tried once. _I will have to talk to Itachi about _this, Kakashi decided. _He knows how to deflate the poor brat's ego._

"Fine. Saturday, one o'clock, the main training hall. Tell Naruto, and don't be late." Kakashi walked away.

"Says the one who is always late!" The teen yelled after him.

_Oh, believe me, you will the ones be late for this session, _Kakashi thought to himself, amused. _You see, I didn't specify which one o'clock our training will take place._..

-exile-

There was only one occasion for which Kakashi was never late, and that was the council. Even he knew it would have been disrespectful towards his dead comrades to be late for these meetings. So today, as per usual, Kakashi took his seat by the table at nine o'clock with everyone else, and listened to Ibiki's starting words.

For a reason no one could really remember, Ibiki, a former torture specialist, had become the spokesperson of the council. He opened the debate, gave out turns to speak and summarized the results of the meeting in the end. Perhaps it was his presence. When Ibiki spoke, everyone else instinctively quieted (with the sole exception of Anko). However, everyone on the council - including Ibiki himself - knew who the real leader of the group was. Whenever the council was badly divided on something and a ruling was needed their eyes would turn two seats to Ibiki's left, where sat the fourth youngest member of the council. Itachi Uchiha.

While Itachi had never truly agreed to be a leader to the exiles, he had assembled them and given them a roof over their head. Many owed their lives to him indirectly, some directly. The Uchiha had united them and turned them from a group of lost individuals into a force against the new Konoha rule. For that he, in spite of being relatively young, was treated as the leader.

Kakashi listened to Ino's report of the week without much interest. None of the spy's information was new, and she said so herself at the beginning of her speech. Kakashi thought that saying so kind of defeated the purpose of giving a speech, but didn't comment. The Hokage was keeping to herself - Kimiko Hyuuga had been killed in action - traps were being set in the sewers - punishments for violating curfews were harsher than before... All of this, the rebels had been aware of for a week. Kakashi was trying to keep himself from yawning.

Shino's report was far more interesting. The other spy had, using his bugs, managed to figure out the locations and the types of the traps that were being set in the sewer system. Kakashi listened intently and made notes to his copy of the report, knowing he would have to brief Hinata on it later.

After the spies had spoken, Shikaku Nara opened a debate to discuss what course of action they should take. Since all of the rest of the information was already known, the talk centered on Shino's report of the traps. Kakashi, again, listened carefully. As Shikaku spoke, his son Shikamaru sat next to him, interrupting occasionally with a sharp argument.

Shikaku had survived the attack on the Hokage's council due to an argument with his wife. When the fatal meeting had started, he had been at home, late, being screamed at. His survival was irony at its finest, as the man had often commented that his temperamental wife would someday be the death of him.

As the bombs had been set off at the Uchiha district, the Naras had fought their way out of the village, trying desperately to find their son, who had at the time been practicing with his teammate Chouji and his teacher - Asuma Sarutobi. By the time Shikaku and his wife found the team, Asuma had been killed and Kakashi himself had ran into them, now defending Shikamaru, Chouji and Naruto (a boy from his own team) against some Hyuuga assassins.

As Kakashi now observed Shikamaru make sarcastic remarks at his father's arguments, the masked jonin couldn't help but wonder if the teen somehow held his father responsible for Asuma's death. Shikaku had been on the Third Hokage's council and specialized in strategy and intelligence - and yet, like the entire council, had failed to predict the coup. Shikamaru had worshipped Asuma and probably considered him a stronger father figure than his actual father, so losing him in the attack had hit the boy hard.

The meeting eventually drew to a close, and Kakashi picked up his notes, folded them and put them in the same pocket as his precious book. Not much had been done - the rebel community was years away from being strong and organized enough to attack the Hokage. Right now, survival was what mattered. They had to keep their lives, so that they wouldn't be written out of Konoha's history books.

Kakashi felt strangely anxious. In the old days, whenever he felt this way he would have gone to visit the memorial stone near the training grounds of Konoha and think of his late comrades, but nowadays going to Konoha alone would have been very dangerous.

_Speaking of dangerous things..._

"Itachi. Can I have a minute?" Kakashi signaled for the younger man to stick around. Itachi nodded and waited for the rest of the council to clear the room.

"It's Sasuke again, isn't it?" the Uchiha guessed easily.

"Yes. Do you think I should start training him again? He keeps pestering me about it, but I'm not certain he's ready." And they needed to be certain. Sasuke had already once tried to sneak into the village without telling anyone, to try and attack the Hyuuga. Itachi had caught him and "convinced" the boy that it was a bad idea. That is to say, traumatized him permanently with a sharingan-induced hallucination.

Itachi sighed heavily. "Don't. Not yet. He is... far too desperate. I'll see if I can make him leave you alone."

Kakashi nodded and thanked the Uchiha before leaving the room. Behind him, Itachi left as well, locking the door. Glancing at his watch, Kakashi sighed as he realized he would have to go continue his shift at the front desk for nearly an hour. _Couldn't the council have lasted a bit longer at least?_


End file.
